Mentor, supervisor, colleague, drill sergeant — advisors play a cast of characters in the eyes of graduate students. But though the advisor-advisee relationship isn’t always simple, one thing’s for sure: “Your advisor plays
a huge role helping you get through a program and setting you up for your career,”
says Lewis Schlosser, PhD, a Seton Hall University psychology professor who studies
advisor-advisee relationships. And recent grads agree: 80 percent of new social science
PhDs say that their advisors were one of the main factors they made it through grad
school, according to a survey by the Council of Graduate Schools.

Clearly, it’s in students’ best interest to keep their advisor relationships running
smoothly, but how? Here’s what some advisors have to say:

Stay in touch ... Don’t be afraid to email or visit outside of scheduled meetings, saysJanet Gillespie, PhD, a psychology professor at The College at Brockport of the StateUniversity of New York. Gillespie actually enjoys it when students drop in to sharetheir ideas. “Our schedules don’t allow much ponder time,” she says. But don’t wasteyour advisor’s time with questions you can answer yourself, says AnisaGoforth, PhD, a school psychology professor at the Universityof Montana. “I expect my graduate advisees to use theirproblem-solving skills to figure out some things forthemselves,” she says.... but don’t overshare. “I’m not yourtherapist. I don’t want to know all about yourpersonal struggles, and I won’t pry into yourlife,” says Schlosser. That’s an importantboundary to respect, because advisorsaren’t just mentors — in the researchlab, they are also your bosses. “It’s smartto be concerned about impressionmanagement,” says Schlosser. However,if your advisor also serves as your clinicalsupervisor, be sure to let him or herknow if your personal issues are seepinginto your therapy sessions, adds Jennifercontinues on page 74